


Making One of Two

by foucqre



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Balthazar makes a cameo, M/M, Mary Winchester's A+ Parenting, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, blink and you miss it - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-19 19:58:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11905131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foucqre/pseuds/foucqre
Summary: In a world where soulmates are a thing, anything written on one will appear on the other. Dean’s not keen on looking for his, his brother keeps asking him to, his best friend is only mildly concerned about it, and maybe it’s been right in front of him the whole time.Or: another destiel soulmate au that no one asked for.





	Making One of Two

**Author's Note:**

> I did this instead of schoolwork help

  
“Hey, hey Dean. There’s uh- something,” Sam made a scratching motion near the corner of his mouth. “There- just a bit-”  
  
Dean absently scratched at the spot Sam was motioning to. His brother kept motioning to the same spot, so he assumed that whatever gunk was still on there. Dean glanced at his reflection in a nearby mirror to wipe at his face with a damp towel. To his surprise, the something that Sam kept pointing to still didn’t come off. He looked closer and scrubbed a bit harder. Still not coming off. “Huh.”  
  
He grabbed the mirror off the desk and tilted it to see what it was and why it wasn’t coming off. Upon close inspection, Dean realized it was ink. Funny, he didn’t remember coming near any sharpies today. Especially any extremely permanent ones. He had spent the entire day in the garage working on Baby, so he didn’t see how he could’ve gotten anything but motor oil on his face. It wasn’t the first time this happened, so he shrugged it off.  
  
Sam put down the beer he carried in for Dean sat down on the nearest area clear of tools and oil. He took one and handed another to his brother. Dean accepted it gratefully and emptied half of it in one go. His brother spared a quick glance at the ink blot again before taking a sip himself. “Another one?” Dean nodded.  
  
The marks had appeared every now and then for the past month, often disappearing after a few hours. Sometimes paint splatters on the arms and smudges on fingers, other times little doodles scribbled on the palm. They both realized they were the so-called marks of soulmates some weeks ago. Sam was all for his brother looking for his soulmate, but Dean wasn’t exactly enthusiastic.  
  
“Look, it’s probably not a ‘soul mark’ or whatever,” Dean had said after the first time Sam pointed it out. The next time it happened, it was harder to explain yellow and blue paint covering his arms. “Maybe it’s a phase and it’ll go away, a temporary soulmate?” Another memorable time was when Sam walked in on Dean trying to wash off the sharpie drawing of a dick on forehead. He wasn’t very successful. “I don’t want to talk about it,” Sam remembered Dean saying as he emptied an entire bottle of soap on his forehead.  
  
For some reason Sam was finding harder and harder to accept, Dean seemed to be actively avoiding any romantic relationships lasting longer than two months. He took another swig of his bottle. “Look man, I’m not saying cross the Atlantic to find your half. Just, maybe acknowledge it? Write something like ‘hi I’m Dean, here’s my number’, I don’t know.” Maybe the youngest Winchester was overstepping his brotherly boundary, but Dean needed to do something about it. “This isn’t an opportunity you can just ignore, Dean.”  
  
Dean sighed and put down the now empty bottle. “I know, this is about how soulmates are a once-in-a-lifetime-thing and what happened to Jess- “  
  
“This isn’t about her.” It was, a little bit, but Dean didn’t need to know he was right. “I’m just saying, it wouldn’t hurt to meet your other half.”  
  
“it’s only been a month, Sammy.”  
  
“Yeah, a lot can happen in four weeks Dean.” Like the other half of your soul dying, his brother knew. Over a decade later and Sam still felt that phantom pain.  
  
“Look, I’ll do something about it, alright?”  
  
Sure, Dean.  
  
-  
Later that day, Dean’s phone rang just as he was cleaning up in the garage. He didn’t need to check the screen to know who was calling, the ringtone gave it away. (Sam had jokingly set it to the BBC Sherlock theme a few years back. Dean didn’t bother changing it.) He wiped his grease-stained hands on the lap of his pants and answered the call. “Hey, Cas.”  
  
“Hello, Dean. It’s been a while.”  
  
“That it has. How’s art school treating you?”  
  
“Great, really. Everything’s fine here,” he paused. “But I was actually calling to,” he seemed to hesitate, “make sure to let you know I’m visiting for the weekend.” Somehow, Dean felt like that wasn’t exactly what Cas wanted to say. He ignored it.  
  
“Alright, I’ll let mom know. I think she’ll have a stroke if she doesn’t bake a dozen pies whenever you visit.” They shared a laugh, and there was a comfortable silence. Dean broke it a second later. “That thing happened again.”  
  
“Again? Does Sam know?” Dean had told Cas about the marks whenever they appeared.  
  
“Yeah, keeps telling me I should finally do something about it. Maybe I should just write something like ‘hi I’m Dean, who’re you’ and get it over with.”  
  
“Based on my experience, I’d advise you to be prepared when you finally realize who it is. Who knows, it might be someone you know.”  
  
“It migh- wait, did you say, ‘personal experience’? Did you meet yours already? Why didn’t you say anything?” Dean was surprised, why wouldn’t his best friend share something like this with him? For a moment, he felt something that closely resembled jealousy, followed quickly by an irrational surge of betrayal, then back to surprise. Since he couldn’t explain exactly why he felt that way, he also chose to ignore that.  
  
“Well, I only guessed at it before. I only confirmed it recently,” today actually, when you called, he continued mentally. “That’s actually one of the reasons I’m visiting. I’d like you to meet him.”  
  
And just like that, the world imploded. Not really, but it might as well have, in Dean’s mind. With that sentence, it felt like the bit of hope he had secretly clung to was snatched away and salt-and-burned in front of him. Still, he was nothing if not a supportive best friend.  
  
“That’s great, man. Uh, do I know this guy you’re talking about?”  
  
“It’s possible you’ve met before. I’ve known him for years.” In his head, Dean was running through the list of people Cas had known for years, who might be the potential soulmate.  
  
“What’s the lucky guy’s name?”  
  
“I’d rather if you just met him. Anywa- yes?” Dean heard someone call Cas’s name in the background. Then something about an important project. “-right, alright. I’m sorry Dean, but I’m afraid I need to go. I’ll call again soon.”  
  
“Bye- “ the call ended, “Cas.” He stared at his phone a moment longer.  
  
_Nothing left to lose then_ , Dean thought and went searching for a pen. He found one near the one of the bottles Sam had brought. Grumbling slightly to himself, he wrote on his palm, _‘hi I’m dean. what’s your name?’_  
  
-  
  
When Dean told Sam about Cas’s impending visit, and apparent soulmate, he was confused when his brother reacted more calmly than Dean did. He merely just raised his eyebrows in a way which meant _wow that’s kinda surprising good for him but not exactly apocalyptic calm down Dean._ Then went on to inform their mother who always insisted on whipping up a feast whenever a family friend stopped by.  
  
Since his brother apparently did not realize his distress over finding out about his best friend’s soulmate, Dean went off to sulk by himself. On a couch. Watching reruns of the Big Bang Theory, but in a sulky manner- sulkily, if you will. During one of the commercial breaks, he felt the couch dip under the weight of a second person and a plate of homemade pie placed on his lap.  
  
Dean turned and found his mother sitting beside him, looking at him expectantly. “Talk,” she said simply. This was the way she got her son to talk about his feelings, these moments where he could be persuaded to say what’s really on his mind. Secretly, Mary hoped that classical conditioning did its trick. She knew whatever Dean was sulking about was bad when he just picked at the crust. The last time he neglected pie, it was because Cas was leaving for art school and Dean was supportive even though everyone knew he’d rather have Cas by his side (Mary fondly recalled the childhood incident involving duct tape, sticks, and an Unbreakable Vow).  
  
“That bad?” In his sulky manner, Dean nodded. “I’m guessing this has something do with Cas.” It wasn’t a question. Dean nodded again. “And about the soul marks?”  
  
“You know about those?”  
  
“Dean I am your mother, I know about these things.” There was a pause. “But also because of that time you used up all the soap when that dick appeared on your forehead. Sam told me then.” They both started to laugh. Mary sighed.  
  
“Cas said he found his soul mate.”  
  
“He has the marks too? Since when?”  
  
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me. Probably had them for years but didn’t tell me.” Dean was back to sulking, but he started to eat the pie. That was always a good sign.  
  
“What do you plan to do about it?”  
  
“Nothing, I guess.” He viciously stabbed a defenseless blueberry. “Nothing’s all about I can do at this point.”  
  
The pain of being a mother.  
  
-  
  
Though Dean sacrificed part of an apple to all the gods he could think of, the weekend still came and with it arrived Castiel. Since he couldn’t sleep the night before, Dean was waiting in the living room for the bell to ring. When it did, he opened the front door to find his best friend grinning at him. “Cas!” Dean was immediately engulfed in a hug. Sam appeared behind him and the three of them were stuck in an awkward three-way hug in the doorway.  
  
They untangled themselves enough to let Castiel come inside, but Dean basically attached himself to his side. Sam looked at the two of them and mentally rolled his eyes. If they only knew. He shook his head and smiled. “Hey Cas.”  
  
Castiel also smiled and nodded at Sam, “Hello, Sam.”  
  
Dean, of course, quickly grabbed his best friend’s attention. “So, how’s the painting going?” And the two talked as if they hadn’t seen each other in years. Cas was talking animatedly, gesturing with his hands, trying to explain something to Dean, who was smiling and looking at Cas with a warm look in his eyes. They both danced around the topic of soulmates.  
  
Mary leaned against the doorway and watched her boys, smiling. Eventually, Cas broke off his conversation with Dean long enough to say hello and kiss her on the cheek. She embraced him and he hugged back as tightly. She pulled away. “So where’s this soulmate I keep hearing about?” Immediately, Cas looked flustered and Dean looked like she just asked him to dig his own grave. From where he sat on the couch, Sam looked amused.  
  
“Well, I suppose you should know,” Cas said. He looked over at Sam. “Sam probably knows already.” Dean felt betrayed by his own brother. In his mind he started to formulate an appropriate revenge prank. Cas turned back to Dean and Mary. “May I have a pen?” No one was really surprised when she pulled one out of her pocket.  
  
Castiel took Dean’s hand into his own, the palm facing up. He scribbled a quick ‘hi’ in his loopy script on Dean’s palm and turned his own palm up. Dean was still for a moment then tried to find something to say. “Wait- I- no- “  
  
His eyes darted from his palm to the one holding it, both had the same word written on them. Sam was laughing uncontrollably and Mary was grinning widely. Cas was blushing but he looked proud of himself and just stared unflinchingly at Dean. Mary strode over to Sam and they both got out of the room, Sam’s laughter soon joined with his mother’s.  
  
Dean gave up on using just leaned forward. Cas- his _soulmate_ \- meets him halfway, his hands coming to rest on Dean’s neck. Dean can’t decide where his hands should go and just puts them on Cas’s shoulders. _I’d cross the Atlantic for this_ , he thinks. _I’d cross the entire world if he asked._ And in that moment he forgets that anything but Cas exists, that Sam is probably going to say ‘I told you so’. In that moment, he doesn’t give a damn.  


**Author's Note:**

> yell about destiel on my tumblr:  
> silver-parseltongues.tumblr.com


End file.
